Hero RB Draft Strategy - 12 Targets for Fantasy Football in 2026!
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
34 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jul 27, 2026
Published
Mon, July 27, 2026
0
Player insights
0
Players mentioned
Player analysis
Player insights
No player insights have been extracted for this episode yet.
Full transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Yo, what is going on? It is Fantasy Football Daily. We are back for another podcast and we have an awesome show
0:06lined up for you guys [music] today.
0:08We're talking through the hero running back strategy in fantasy football with my guys Joe Dolan and Tom Broly. Joe is the managing editor here at Fantasy
0:17Points. Tom is our resident betting and fantasy expert. Three bros are back at it. We are back at it for another
0:23strategy pod. We did a zero running back podcast earlier this week. this kind of it'll kind of run in company with with
0:30this podcast. Uh today we're going to be talking hero running back strategy and what all of that entails.
0:45>> I'll set us up here, gentlemen. The hero running back strategy in general, you're trying to find one hammer running back
0:52in rounds one or two. And then you spend the next two to three rounds taking basically every wide receiver you can
0:58possibly imagine. Just take a shotgun to the position and go after all the players that project good in that in that particular pocket. The the other
1:07way this works too is like you could also take one tight end or one quarterback in rounds two through five.
1:13You're basically just trying to leverage a high-end running back one who has the, you know, top five upside every single week with receivers that project
1:24extremely well in that pocket plus one onesie position. This works extremely well with Brock Bowers this year. We'll get into that in just a moment. I think
1:32in general the strategy works best with an anchor round one wide receiver. That is much harder to do this year though
1:38with the running back position getting pushed up into the second round. Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor are actually the best recent examples of hero running
1:45back strategy working best.
1:48Both those players were going in the second round over the last two seasons and both had extremely extremely high advance rates to the fantasy playoffs in
1:57weeks 15. This season it's a lot harder to do guys. I think that that in general it's a lot harder to do. It's harder to
2:03pair Jamar Chase or Puka Nakua or Alman Ras St. round with a stud RB1 in the second round just because their second
2:10round runners have gone nuts in general too. The strategy does work better in PPR leagues. We talk about this all the
2:17time on the show like know your format.
2:19It's truly one of the biggest edges in fantasy football. There is a huge difference between half PPR and PPR scoring. PPR, you know, receivers just
2:28they they just bridge the gap closer to running backs. uh over the last two seasons among top 200 scorers in fantasy
2:35football on average your running back is going to outscore your receiver by about two points per game in half PPR that
2:43gets knocked down to like 1.3 1.4 points per game in PPR leagues. There's just a lot more viable receivers. So you're
2:50you're thinking through these here running back strategies. Make sure you keep that in the back of your mind, too.
2:54You're just going to have more viable receivers in PPR leagues. Joe, I'll throw it to you first. I I love doing
3:00here running back strategy in in auction leagues. I think it actually works the best in auction leagues where you have, you know, you can obviously you have
3:07access to every player in the player pool, but you can also just like load up on value. Every room is a little
3:14different. It's a lot easier to go after running backs under, you know, 10 8 10 bucks in auction formats and kind of
3:20load up on that like, you know, RB2, RB3, RB4 and then stashing just some $1 cheap bets that are handcuffs.
3:27>> Yeah. So, um, like obviously if you want a full discussion on auctions, by the way, after this video because you want
3:33to watch this video first. Uh, there's a there's a video on the Fantasy Points, uh, YouTube feed with myself, Brian Drake, and Drew Davenport. We do it
3:40every year and we talk about some of those things. But the cool thing about an auction league if you want to go hero
3:45RB is you can kind of set the tone in the room where you can maybe throw out uh it doesn't even have to be Jir Gibbs,
3:52Bejon, Chris McAffrey, but it can be a Jonathan Taylor, uh a James Cook, somebody like that where you're like, I'm going to pay up for this running
3:59back and then maybe you can wait and see what everybody else does at the running back position and then hope to try to
4:05create some value for you down the board at wide receiver. And that becomes really the critical discussion point this off seasonason. Was last year and
4:14the last two years really an outlier for wide receivers in terms of just not just the personnel shifts around the NFL, but
4:21also how frequently top wide receivers and top quarterbacks got hurt.
4:26Outlierishly high number of injury rates. Is there a way to bounce back?
4:31And is this strategy here running back where you're not totally issuing the elite running backs? As a matter of fact, it's a key part of the strategy,
4:38but then using your next few picks or the balance of your budget to identify two, three wide receivers who can really
4:46help you. And I think we figured out that maybe making that bet is the most efficient way to draft in 2026.
4:52>> I think it is, man. The the receiver pool from rounds three through five, Tom, is just so good. We've talked about
4:58this on a number of shows and in particular on, you know, kind of less sharp sites like Sleeper and Yahoo and
5:04ESPN where ADP really hasn't set in yet.
5:07Maybe you're doing some early drafts for your season long leagues over on those platforms. Man, receiver looks so good in that that pocket. It is hard. I'm
5:15just saying I think it's harder to do this year because running back has gotten pushed so much up into the first
5:21and second round and across all platforms. This is looking like, you know, an old school type year, like 2015 or 2016 type running back uh outlook.
5:29But Tom, I I I like doing this quite a bit uh in in, you know, kind of like less sharp formats. It feels wrong to
5:36say, but it is it is easier to pull off because the receivers typically >> playing in your your hometown uh leagues
5:43or you know, wherever you're playing and you feel like you might have an edge, I I like to do the hero RB and uh in years
5:50past I I've done a little bit of zero RB, but I really do like the Hero RB, especially if you feel go back and watch
5:56our Zero RB discussion u some for some lowerend running backs that you can target. I think he can also target a lot
6:02of those guys in a hero RB build and if you think you can have an edge by getting some of those guys later in the
6:08draft and it helps you maybe attack like a tight end position. Uh we're I like Coulson Loveland a lot in the fourth
6:15round. If you want to go be kind of an outlier and go Josh Allen in the third round. Uh going with a hero RB approach
6:22you know doesn't it's not just going and attacking the wide receivers. You can go for those onesie positions a little bit
6:28earlier if you think you do have an edge. uh drafting later and you know if you feel like you know a little bit more
6:34than your league mates and can get some of those sleeper running backs that can fill that RB2 spot for you. So uh I I
6:40typically use this approach with my drafts. I would say um uh most of my builds are hero or RB most years but uh
6:48this year could be a little bit different. I think I am going to do a little bit more RB RB builds uh just
6:53because of how running backs are going off the board so quickly. But, uh, hero RB is always a viable option.
7:00>> Yeah, RB RB is typically the way I've been drafting, too, Tom. And it it really is just that receiver pool is so
7:06good. Rounds three through six. I do I do think if you're in a league with, call it two running backs, three
7:12receivers, and multiple flex spots, I think this works even better. Uh, especially in PPR leagues because you're going to probably be starting more
7:18receivers in the, you know, to begin with in the first place. And like I said at the beginning of the show, it is just
7:23easier to make up receiver production in PPR leagues visav running backs compared to half PPR. And especially in standard leagues. Standard leagues, it's almost
7:32like impossible to do like a full hero or zero running back league. Now if you're just chasing touchdowns, yeah, you're probably going to want to be
7:38drafting way more running backs in those formats. Let's get it going here, guys.
7:42We're not going to be talking about Jir Gibbs and Bejian Robinson, Chris McAffrey, Jonathan Taylor. Like those guys are clearly, you know, the clear
7:48hero running back candidates in the first round. uh any of those team builds, you take one of those four guys, you come back and you get AJ Brown, Nico
7:56Collins, Drake London, Brock Bowers in the second round, then you just go ham at receiver in the third, fourth, and fifth round. Basically, the entire
8:03approach to hear a running back is like Joe was mentioning at the top of the show. It's just avoiding the, you know,
8:09the fourth and fifth round of running backs. Historically speaking, we are much better at, you know, identifying receiver breakouts in that pocket. uh
8:18you know, you look at pretty much any advance rate data, that's what it shows.
8:22So that's what this entire strategy is about. You get your one hammer running back and avoid running backs and rounds three, really four and five. That's the
8:30main rounds you're trying to avoid and draft some receivers. So beyond those four guys, I think there's some clear hero running back candidates at the one
8:37two turn this year that are very, very attractive to me. They're James Cook, Saquon Barkley, and Devon Achan. And I threw Achan in this discussion just
8:46because he projects so well. I'll be honest, I feel the least amount of confidence in Achan com compared to Cook and Barkley. Tom, I think Cook and
8:55Barkley both have clear top five upside.
8:58Like there's just no doubt about it. Top five weekly upside. I think if James Cook plays more in the passing game this
9:03year, he has top three upside in fantasy football. How are you treating Devon Achan, though? I think that's the one I'm like, man, I'm I'm really squinting
9:11at because he projects so well for us here at Still at Fantasy Points.
9:15>> Yeah, he's been a tough click for me quite honestly. He's been sliding down my draft boards. Uh there's a lot of
9:21great second round uh picks right now.
9:23So, uh I have not been selecting a whole lot of them because I'm mostly looking at his downside. Uh with Malik Willis, I
9:31don't know if he's going to throw it to him as much. Uh is this team going to score a lot of touchdowns? But if you
9:36look at it from a, you know, a glass half full type of approach, he has a ton of upside. We saw it last year.
9:44Explosive runner. Uh, one of, you know, one of the best players at the position.
9:49This offensive [snorts] line. Uh, took some steps forward last year. We all kind of thought it was going to be one
9:54of the worst in the league and, uh, it was much better than people anticipated.
9:58So, uh, if you look at it that maybe Malik Willis, uh, maybe he's a little bit of a sleeping giant at the
10:04quarterback position. Maybe this offense is much better than everybody anticipates. He does have that top five upside. So, uh we we know he can catch
10:13the ball a lot and they don't have a whole lot at receiver. So, should get a lot of designed targets. So, uh he does
10:19have that potential if this Dolphins offense, everybody's kind of projecting them as a bottom three uh type of unit, but maybe if they're just like league
10:27average, Devon Achan could be a top five back.
10:32>> Yeah, I'm struggling with Aan too, Joe.
10:34I think the main thing I I keep coming back to with Han, it's like, okay, he scored double- digit touchdowns in three
10:39straight seasons. We know he can rip off long plays. I I think we were generally overconfident in our ability to project
10:45out the worst offenses in the league.
10:46I'm I'm not too actually concerned so much about the touchdowns. I'm more concerned about like the receptions really falling for him for this year,
10:53Joe. Like, >> man, like Malik Willis, one of the things that is very sticky year-over-year is just quarterback target rates. And Malik Willis basically
11:02does not target his running backs. He's he's targeted his receivers a ton. And then if he's, you know, if he's not
11:07getting what he wants downfield, he's probably going to take off and scramble.
11:11A Chan over the last two years, he's got 78 and 67 receptions. We're still projecting a very, very strong receiving role for him just because the rest of
11:18this Miami, you know, depth chart, man, receiver is so bad. It's it's a joke how bad it is. All that being said though,
11:24man, I mean, I think there's a significant chance Aan takes like a 10% dip in in receptions this year, which really hurts him.
11:31>> Yeah. So, I I like Malik Willis as kind of like this late like best baseball quarterback. I know Ryan has a
11:36compelling reason why he's fading him, but I mean, the reasons that I like Malik Willis as a late round quarterback and the reasons
11:43you might like Devon Achan kind of counteract each other, which I'm a little concerned about. And I'm not sure how useful this piece of advice is going
11:51to be, but if I was drafting just one fantasy football team this year, I'm not sure Devon Aan is going to be the guy
11:59I'm going to bet my house on just because of the fact that I just think this team has a chance to be really bad.
12:07It's so easy for me to say, well, I have 20 best baseball teams and 20 dynasty teams and [laughter] I'm in 15 leagues
12:14and yeah, I'll have some Devon Achan.
12:16I'm not sure if I was drafting in one league that this would be the guy I would stake my hero RB strategy on.
12:23>> I think I think that's kind of what you're touching on. And I the only reason I put him in this clear strategy,
12:28you know, clear hero running back, >> we know he can blow up.
12:31>> Exactly, bro. Like we've seen this for two years. Like he's been one of the highest advance rate players and it's it
12:36feels like, you know, you just look at you basically compare his statistics to Bean Robinson. He's he's been like a 95%
12:42Bejian Robinson and you take him in the middle of the second round. All that being said though, yeah, I I have some
12:47significant concerns about Han 2. Uh James Cook and Saquon Barkley. I talked to Rich Reebar quite a bit yesterday about Saquon and his bounceback
12:55potential. You should go listen to to Rich's analysis on Saquon. I think there's some humongous upside with this Eagles offense this season in particular
13:04with Saquon getting everybody back healthy. Uh Saquin makes a ton of sense in these types of builds. He also makes a ton of sense where you just double tap
13:11running back. You take James Cook and Saquon at the one-two turn. But Barkley, it kind of sets up very similarly to him
13:18uh to his breakout season two years ago uh for Barkley there. Kind of like the one-two turn. We'll keep it going here,
13:25guys. Some underrated hero running back candidates. And I I put Ashton Jensy and Omarian Hampton in this category simply because we have not
13:34seen them do it before. But I also think Chase Brown and Derrick Henry are a little a little interesting when it
13:39comes to this. Tom, I think Chase Brown's very underrated. The volume has been really good by expected fantasy points over the last two seasons. He's
13:47basically been top five or top six. It's just like, can we get Joe Burrow healthy for one year?
13:53>> The Bengals did nothing at back in their backfield this offseason, man. It's just him and Sam Perine.
13:58>> Yeah, Sama Perine's still around. He's he's a fine back. He, you know, kind of does the job. He's just a guy back
14:05there, though. So, I I don't think we're going to lose many touches to him. He's kind of the insurance plan. He'll he'll
14:12take a couple carries away, play a little bit on third downs, but the rest of this backfield is all Chase Brown.
14:18So, uh you know, we're all expecting this Bengals offense to be one of the best in the NFL. And I think a little
14:26bit of an undertalked about offensive line is uh developing here in Cincinnati. They got a lot of talent.
14:33It's a lot of continuity as well. All all five starters are back and Marius Mims is a guy that a lot of people are
14:40looking at as a potential breakout at the tackle position. So we like this offensive line. We like the uh quarterback play. I think we also feel
14:48better if something does happen to Joe Burrow. We still have Joe Flacco waiting in the wings and we saw this offense
14:55continue to put up numbers after he came into the lineup uh in relief of Joe Burrow. So uh I I like a lot of the
15:03setup here. Chase Brown, it was a slow start last year and I think some people might be holding that against him a
15:09little bit, but uh anybody that had him was very happy in the second half of the uh second half of the season. So, uh a
15:16great target here in the back end of the you know, middle to back end of the second round. Maybe if you start with a
15:22JSN or a maybe I I don't know if I'd want to do it with a Jamar Chase. Maybe, you know, taking two Bengals uh with
15:29your first two picks, but makes a whole lot of sense if maybe you draft Puka or JSN early in the first round.
15:36>> Yeah, that's that's exactly what I'm thinking is you take Aman Ra, you take JSN, you take Puka, you come back at
15:41Chase Brown and you can just basically, you know, if one of these running backs in the third round falls to you, maybe
15:47Jeremiah Love or Bree Hall falls, sure, absolutely go after them. But the third round's kind of been cleaned out this year, guys. Third round has been
15:54basically like a gold mine for running backs over the last two years. But it's been it's been pretty cleaned out.
16:00>> All the all of them are Exactly. That's exactly right. Being pushed into that second round. Joe, the other the other
16:05running back that really is compelling to me. And he's eventually going to fall off the cliff. Somebody, you know, one of these years Derrick Henry is going to
16:12is going to be, you know, he's going to be a mere mortal amongst us amongst us mortals down here. But Dererick Henry
16:18over the last two seasons is RB5 in fantasy points per game in wins. And the Ravens have I a very strong team outlook
16:26this year.
16:27>> Yeah, they're the the top record, you know, in terms of win totals. They're the top in the AFC, right behind the
16:32Rams overall.
16:33>> I I know. And I'm looking at this and I'm like, man, okay, we've got an 11 and a half win team total. They're implied
16:38for 26 points per game. Like, why wouldn't Derrick Henry be a great hero running back candidate again?
16:44>> Yeah. And by the way, um, not for nothing, uh, they are, uh, talking about him getting a little bit more involved,
16:50uh, in the passing game, which I mean, at some point I'll, you know, he's played for what, 10 years in the NFL,
16:57and he's never caught more than 33 passes in a season, but this is a guy who in the screen game is really good.
17:03He's really good at it. I mean, he doesn't he's averaged over 10 recept yards per reception in each of his two
17:09years with Baltimore. problem is he was only caught 19 and 15 passes in those seasons. But nonetheless, the point for Derrick Henry is not what teaching an
17:17old dog new tricks. It's that the old dog still has that fight in him and he's on a good football team with, you know,
17:23just a fresh perspective here with the new coach and Jesse Miner and just getting um maybe some of the kinks knocked out.
17:33Is Derrick Henry gonna fall off the cliff?
17:36>> You know what? At this point, I think we have to acknowledge that he might just be like wake up one day and like farce
17:43gump just be like I'm pretty tired. I'm done. But like he's just going to run for 1500 yards and 15 touchdowns every
17:52season until he does that. So I I there has been no indication that Derrick Henry is falling off. None whatsoever.
17:59>> Yeah, there is not really. underneath the hood. Yeah, his yards after contact and miss talk with force numbers, you know, they've fallen off like a little
18:05bit, but man, at the end of last year, he was still incredible. Closed out his last four games with over 600 yards
18:11rushing. And again, that was with like a busted Lamar Jackson. Uh his last four games, he had 85 carries, 570 yards, and
18:17six touchdowns to close out the season.
18:19>> That was the complaints at the end of the season from Ravens fans. What are we doing? Get Derrick Henry in the game.
18:25Get him the ball. He's the only thing that's working for this offense. And uh we'll see if it the cliff is here, Joe.
18:31But I I don't believe it. I I'll believe it when I see it. He's standing at the top of the cliff saying, "Come on at me.
18:36I'm I'm the king here." So I I'm going to continue to draft him in that late second round.
18:42>> Yeah, I don't think the king has been dethroned. I fully expected to be out on Henry. I thought he'd be going earlier,
18:47but man, he's going 1718 overall in half PPR. He sometimes even gets pushed down closer to the two three turn in PPR
18:54leagues. I I think that's just a great price for him. Ashen Genty and Omar and Hampton. Genty is going right in that
18:59pocket with Cook and Barkley. I didn't put him in the clear here running back category just because we haven't truly seen him do that. We haven't truly seen
19:07him be a here running back. But man, I mean the touch volume should be incredible. I think Ashen Jensy is going
19:12to push Christian McAffrey this year if McAffrey stays healthy obviously and snap rate. And then Omarian Hampton is just one of my favorite players to
19:20draft. I'm I'm still question you know obviously he hasn't done it. Last year he averaged 15.1 PPR points per game.
19:27Was a very very solid RB2 in the games he was healthy. Missed a ton of time due to that ankle injury, but he has, you
19:33know, certainly hero running back upside. His first four games last year he was, you know, RB7 and snap rate, 77%.
19:42There's definite Bellcow upside here with Hampton and obviously an ascending offense on the Chargers. I would be a little more skeptical I think of uh out
19:52of all these players, Henry I put last.
19:54I think he is the the last guy in just because we like you said Joe he's only caught what 30 his career high is 33
20:00receptions you said he does not have the full you know passing down upside that I think Jensy Hampton and especially Chase
20:07Brown have typically you want to have a full-blown Bellcow who's never going to come off the field and catch a ton of
20:13passes in your hero running back kind of role but you know him >> and he will post a couple of those duds
20:18every once every couple every couple of weeks which really does hurt your team but he doesn't have that nice buildin floor, but uh he does put up more
20:26monster games than these guys.
20:28>> Yeah, exactly. That's the thing is like he still has that huge two touchdown upside in ways that you know Jensy and
20:33Hampton don't necessarily have. The final category that we'll talk about real quick is the yolo here running back candidates. I just bend these guys into
20:43like man it would take I [snorts] don't know we have some you know basically these guys are have huge upside but we
20:50still have some concerns either about the role or the offense it's Ken Walker Bree Hall and Jeremiah Love for the last
20:57two Hall and Love it's obviously just concerns over the offense. These two teams are bottom three right now in implied points per game but Tom you're
21:04on Ken Walker and I love your reasoning behind it. It's like they just paid him a boatload of money. They brought a
21:09Brinks truck to his house and just backed it up. Walker should play more in the passing downs. And I saw some
21:14reports this week from a few beat reprietors that man, he might have to play. He's they're they're kind of dialing up some more screens for him in
21:21the pass game. It's a little bit like the Derrick Henry conversation like, okay, yeah, sure, he's not like a, you know, great route run or anything like
21:27that, but he certainly can house some screens.
21:29>> Yeah. And I think that that could be a role for him. He could be a little bit more involved in the pass game. They do
21:35have some backs in Amari D. Marcado and Bashard Smith and EMTT Johnson that can play a little bit in the passing game,
21:42but I think a big reason why Kenneth Walker went to Kansas City outside of the money, he wanted he wants a Bellcal
21:50type of role. He wants to be out in the field more. He was losing constantly losing snaps to Zack Charbanet and that
21:56committee up in Seattle. Uh if he prioritized, you know, winning championships and maybe he would have stayed in Seattle. uh certainly can do
22:04that to can chase him in Kansas City as well, but I think he wanted to go to Kansas City to have a bigger role. I
22:11think Kansas City wants a back that they can really lean on. It's been a bit of an annoying committee there the last
22:18couple of years and they just weren't getting any kind of explosive plays out of the backfield. So, they targeted him and he went there cuz he wants to play a
22:28little bit more. So, uh, now we're just kind of counting on this Chief's offense to bounce back a little bit, but I think
22:34we've certainly, you know, they have a long track record with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback of, uh, being a good offense. So, I think they can easily
22:43bounce back here. Uh yeah, I I like uh you know, if you go with an A on Raw or a Justin Jefferson or a CD Lamb in that
22:51late first round, uh targeting Kenneth Walker in the second round coming back around and then just you know, see if he
22:57does finally get that big passing role that we've been kind of wanting from him up in Seattle and uh hopefully he gets I
23:04don't see any of those backs behind him really challenging him for short yardage carries as well, which was always a a
23:10problem up in Seattle with Zack Charbanet. Yeah, that's that's the main thing is he's going to have the goal line role fully to himself. I I think
23:17there's some underrated upside here with his receiving role too. You look back just two years ago, Alvin Camaran, Devonte, Chan Le running backs and
23:24receptions per game. Ken Walker was number number three. He only played in 11 games two years ago back in in 2023
23:31now. But uh man, 4.2 receptions per game he had. Excuse me, 2024 was the season uh he had 46 receptions, but you know,
23:39he was RB3 in receptions per game. If we get him close to 50 receptions, man, he's going to fully pay off the ADP and
23:45and probably probably deserves to be in the the clear here running back category. Bruce Hall and Jeremiah Love to Joe, it's really just the offenses.
23:54Both players have clear pass down upside. Bree Hall a couple years ago had a monster season uh in the pass game. It
24:01hasn't really been that, you know, as good of a role in the pass game for him over the last two seasons, but he, you
24:05know, 2023 had a 76 reception season.
24:09gets the quarterback upgrade with Gino Smith. This offense, it's just, man, it's been stuck in mud. And then with Jeremiah Love, like I I love the talent.
24:18Obviously, the the upside with him is huge. We're just dealing with a a horrible quarterback room.
24:24>> I I I squint with these two guys. I think I'd still need to come back and, you know, take like Javvante Williams or
24:30Josh Jacobs in the third round to feel really good about my running back room.
24:34But there's there's definitely a little bit of upside here. If both these players uh you know are at the top end
24:39of the range of outcomes in terms of their receiving role this year.
24:41>> If I'm betting on one of those two, Pri or Jeremiah Love, my bet is going to be on Jeremiah Love. Um I actually have
24:48less concerns about the offense at large as you do because I think Jacobe Brassette and I believe they will get a
24:53contract done with him. Um I think he can operate a perfectly average NFL offense and I think they have the talent
25:00at least at the skill positions to do that. My bigger concern with Love is the fact that they have Tyler Algier and
25:08James Connor behind him. I would feel so much better if they were to trade one of those guys. And I think it would be
25:14Connor would be the guy because they went out and signed Algier this off seasonason. The concern is Tyler Algier.
25:20We have already seen it. We have seen him take 200 touches away from a top 10 rookie running back, right? Like we have
25:29already seen that. It is a different team. I understand that. But he is the type of guy that coaches just put in,
25:35well, he's big, so guess what? He's going to get our short yardage work.
25:38He's going to get our goal line work. I I I would be shocked if we're not screaming about that at some point this
25:43season. That's my biggest concern with Jeremiah Love.
25:46>> Yeah, that's my concern, too. And I think it's it's less of a concern with Bree Hall. I' I've been a big Brailan
25:51Allen hater my entire my [laughter] entire fantasy.
25:55It's worked out very very well. I think Isaiah Davis is just a better football player. I think he's better in passing
26:00downs. I think if if Bruce Hall, god forbid, were were to get hurt, this would just be a split. We've seen this
26:05for back-to-back years when Bree Hall misses time or he comes off the field.
26:08They end up just splitting Allen and Davis. But you look at our projections, man. I mean, Bree Hall out projects Jeremiah Love just very, very slightly.
26:16And we're projecting, you know, 242 carries for Bree, 220 to Jeremiah Love.
26:22And I think that really just speaks to Joe's point about Alier and Connor being significant backfield competition. I do think they try to move James Connor,
26:29especially if he can prove that he's healthy in training camp. Uh there's going to be a team that probably loses a
26:34back or needs veteran help at some point. Uh so that probably will help you Love's projection just a little bit.
26:41Finally, I want to talk about a modified here running back approach here. This is like for example, you take Jamar Chase
26:46or Puka Nakua in the first round, you come back and you get Brock Bowers in the second round. You feel amazing about
26:50your receiver and tight end. There's two running backs that are going in the third round right now that they might be
26:56boring, but they project incredibly well for us. It's Josh Jacobs and Javvante Williams. Jacobs projects right behind Bree Hall at RB14. Javvantee is right
27:06behind Jeremiah Love at RB16. And then there's just like a huge drop off between these two players and the rest of the running back grouping. It's Cam
27:15Scataboo, Kairen Williams, David Montgomery. Both those all three of those players kind of going at the end of the you Kairen goes in the middle of
27:21the third round, but Cam Scataboo and David Montgomery in particular, they're going in that fourth round pocket. I'm just looking at this Joe from like a
27:27volume perspective. Like if Josh Jacobs doesn't miss any time, like he kind of has that Derrick Henry light in him. You
27:33know what I'm saying? Like he doesn't have a great passing down role, but he has tons of touchdown upside. And this
27:38Packers offense is very underrated. I feel like we're underrating this team going into this season. The Packers are tied with the 49ers by implied points
27:46per game this year. Jacobs, I mean, if he doesn't get suspended this season, you know, if there's no other, you know,
27:53news to come out in that front, it doesn't seem likely he's going to get suspended this year. And Javvante Williams, like he kind of has a Saquon
27:59Barkley type projection in a way where like >> he doesn't have a huge pass down role, but it's a great offense that could
28:06score a ton of points and he's their goal lineback.
28:08>> Yeah. So Javvante obviously I prefer here just because well it doesn't look like Javvante is angling to be suspended here. But I mean the the problem with
28:16Josh Jacobs is you have to be willing to assume that risk, right? And I can't sit here and tell you what's going to happen
28:24at this point. They have decided not to press charges on Josh Jacobs in a potential domestic violence situation.
28:32If I am not getting the language exactly correct, I apologize. But they've at to this point have declined to press charges, but they could always re
28:40repress and the NFL might decide to drop the hammer at that stage. If Josh Jacobs was not did not have this situation
28:48hanging over his head, he's going in the second round, right? Like I think there's a whole round discount going there. And if you are willing to assume
28:56that risk, that is a monster quote unquote value pick. Um, again, I I it's gross to talk about it in from that
29:04angle, but this is fantasy football and probably I mean, I would think is the the if you really want to shoot for the
29:11Stars would be the pick. But Javvante, I think, is safe. He looked better last year than I anticipated. He was a
29:17complete zero in the passing game.
29:18That's a big concern. But Dallas could be a team that just allows Javvante Williams to fall into the end zone 12,
29:2413, 14 times this year. And that is a massive massive coup in the third round if you're pairing that with a with a guy who can
29:34win the triple crown at wide receiver and frankly a guy who can win the triple crown at tight end as well. So um I I I
29:41love that if I am getting Bowowers and if you've listened to my content here over the last few weeks I have become
29:46like quite obsessed with Brock Bowers in the second round.
29:49>> Yeah, Brock Bowers is going to win some leagues this year. I'm looking at this Javvante Williams situation is like, man, he's he could be a very underrated
29:56bellcow. And I'm with you, Joe. Like, he's not the world's best receiver. He's not going to be the most explosive pass
30:02catcher. That's just, you know, not really what he's been in his NFL career.
30:06He's kind of just been a volume back.
30:08But, I mean, this backfield is going to be fully his. According to Todd Archer over at ESPN, Malik Davis might not make
30:15this team, guys. It might just be Jaden Blue and Phil Mafa behind him. That's what he's projecting in terms of their
30:20running back room. They also have Hunter Lipkkey who's kind of quasi fullback for them. I I think Tom Javvantee is like
30:27I'm kind of with you. I I I kind of went into this off season thinking, man, I Jvont is going to be overpriced. He's
30:33going at the 34 turn, guys. Like the volume should be really good and the offense should be really good. Tom, are
30:38are you in on Javvante?
30:39>> Uh little bit. You know, it's one of those if I really need a running back at that point, but uh like I said at the
30:46top, I've been doing a little bit more RB RB starts. So, not not getting him a whole ton, but makes sense. I mean, he
30:54this is a back this backfield is all his. It's a lot like the the situation we went through with Chase Brown. This
30:59backfield is all his. It's a similar type of offense. Two stud wide receivers. Uh defenses are going to respect this passing game, so he's going
31:07to have running lanes. he's going to be able to to rack up yards and they're going to be scoring a lot. So, very
31:13similar situation. His offensive line might already be better as well. Uh we like the upside of Cincinnati's offensive line, but I think Dallas's
31:23offensive line is uh Scott D. Benadetto.
31:25He had him had them ranked 12th in his rankings up on the site. So, this is an offensive line that's going to create
31:32some holes. So, it really just comes down to the role in the passing game. He wasn't very effective last year, but
31:38we've seen him in Denver. I mean, he's he's had some decent receiving season, so he's capable of it. Uh but it it just
31:45didn't really uh materialize last year.
31:47I think it looks like 137 yards on 35 catches. Uh yeah, that's not a great uh yards per reception mark, but that could
31:56certainly uh bounce back this season.
31:59And if we can get 35 to 40 catches and get that number up to like 250 yards, 30 300 yards, uh, we might be cooking with
32:06Javvante Williams.
32:07>> Yeah, don't look at Javvante Williams career yards per target. Just don't do it. It'll gross you out. Just just just
32:12don't do it. But yeah, I'm with you. I mean, that's a great comp between him and Chase Brown. The volume has been
32:16really good. Last last year, Javvante was RB8 and expected fantasy points per game. That was just behind Devonte Chan, Jamir Gibbs, Chase Brown, Bejian
32:25Robinson, JT, and McAffrey. So, the volume should be very, very good for Williams again this year. I'm I'm looking at him not necessarily as like I
32:33don't I don't think I'd feel super great about having him as my my RB1, my clearcut RB1 in a hero hero running back
32:40type of build, but I think you could make up for it. There are ways to build around him with like Jamar Chase Pukuna
32:45plus a Brock Bowers in the second round and you could feel great about your start. Guys, here running back is one of
32:51the my favorite ways to build. Again, you're taking one hammer running back in the first couple of rounds and then kind
32:56of streaming your RB2 spot throughout the season. It's much easier to do in manage leagues, much harder to do over the last couple years in baseball simply
33:06because we have access to the waiverwire. You can make trades and improve your roster to make this strategy work. This has been a look at
33:13the hero running back candidates here at Fantasy Points. If you have not subscribed already to Fantasy Points, you need to change that right now. Get
33:22in for 10% off. Code fantasy. One word fantasy will get you 10% off your subscription. Joe teased it earlier in the show. His auction draft strategy has
33:31already come out. Our guy John Hansen the guru has just draft dropped his draft plan. So get in, save yourself 10
33:39bucks with code of fantasy and win your leagues. Until the next podcast, we will see you at the top of the
33:46leaderboards.
33:52>> [music]
